Pharmaceutical Agents for Neuroprotection during Acute SCI

Over time, advances in our understanding of the molecular pathways that signal abnormally during secondary injury, in combination with our knowledge of axon protection and repair, have led to novel pharmaceutical interventions to treat acute SCI. Pharmacological experimentation for acute SCI in animal models began in the late 1960s (Ducker, 1969) and human trials began in the 1980s (Bracken et al. 1984). Drugs currently under investigation include those used to treat other neurological disorders as well as some synthesized exclusively for SCI. To date, there have been a number of trials in humans for pharmaceuticals to investigate their efficacy in acute SCI which will be described in the sections below.